Chapter 215 214: New Legion: 101
The room was quiet.
Van Roth and the other core members stared blankly at the projection in Bayer's hand.
Even Sith, sitting behind his desk, showed a moment of silence for the first time.
The only person in the room with a puzzled look was Malakin. He scrutinized the projection in Bayer's hand, but no matter how he looked at it, aside from the fact that this Hades Terminator's attire was more ornate than that of a standard Terminator, and that it boldly adopted a black-and-gold paint scheme comparable to that of the Golden Custodes, Malakin could not see any other differences.
But looking at the stunned expressions of Van Roth and the others opposite him, at least one thing was certain: once this Hades Terminator appeared, they... were truly no longer afraid of the Norn Emissary!
No, that's not right. It's that they didn't give a damn!
Thinking this, Malakin took a careful look at the crowd before him and silently corrected 'not afraid' to 'not giving a damn' in his heart.
Yet, this term gave Malakin a shock far beyond 'not afraid.' Because 'not giving a damn' carried a sense of contempt!
The scene remained silent until Sith withdrew his gaze from the projection and looked at Bayer, prompting the others to follow suit, showing great anticipation toward Bayer.
One had to remember that the Norn Emissary in Malakin's projection had not been killed; who knew if it had left with the Tyranid Swarm fleet or was still lurking on the world beneath their feet?
It was even possible that it had already infiltrated Sith's fleet during the recent fleet battle.
Van Roth and the others were truly desperate for power capable of countering the Norn Emissary.
Bayer had clearly been prepared for this; once everyone looked over, he turned around and stepped aside, revealing the room's door behind him.
The door remained closed, but even from inside the room, everyone could hear the dull, rhythmic thud of footsteps echoing from the corridor into the quiet of the room.
Then, accompanied by the hiss of pneumatic gears, the door slid open to both sides.
Light streamed in from outside, only to be blocked by a towering figure over three meters tall, perfectly balancing strength, agility, and coordination.
Light pierced through the gaps around his body and limbs. On his heavy breastplate made of multi-layered ceramite plating sat a heavy helmet, glowing with red light, devoid of fangs, and styled like standard power armor.
The moment he appeared, a connection originating from the genetic level was immediately established between him and Sith.
Even before seeing Sith behind the crowd, the 101, sensing that his gene-father was right in front of him, raised his hand in salute from outside the door.
"Father."
It was no longer the former 'Lord' or 'Commander.' As members of the first batch of 101s and the earliest Blackwatch to follow Sith, they had obtained ultimate power far exceeding that of Mortals or even Astartes through Sith's genes.
And on a genetic level, a new relationship of subordination was officially established between the two sides.
Then, under Malakin's increasingly bewildered gaze, this 101... emitted powerful psychic energy comparable to that of a Librarian!
"Comprehensive doubling of attributes, every man a Librarian. Lord Sith, this Legion of yours, born from battle-hardened veterans of the Apocalypse, is undoubtedly the premier fighting force in the galaxy!"
Bayer spoke with undisguised boastfulness, and even after finishing, he cast a highly arrogant glance at Van Roth and the other 'old-timers' opposite him.
As if feeling that this wasn't enough, while Malakin's mouth hung wide open and his eyes bulged in shock, Bayer signaled for this 101 to enter. Behind him, in the corridor, came a stream of Hades Terminators marching in, as if on an assembly line!
"Of course, and most importantly, your Legion... can be mass-produced!"
By this point, the boastfulness on Bayer's face had faded into an infinite intoxication with his own perfect masterpiece.
After all, Bayer had originally assumed that the stability and success rate of the modification surgery for such powerful individuals would be extremely low.
But unexpectedly, the gene-seed from Sith was, for some reason, exceptionally stable.
So much so that even if there were minor errors, the super-stability of Sith's gene-seed could repair them!
Therefore, when the final success rate of the genetic modification surgery reached one hundred percent, even though he knew this was mainly due to the super-stability of Sith's gene-seed, Bayer still excitedly lamented that compared to the 101s he had created, Cawl's Primaris Conversion was complete garbage!
He was also grateful that the battle-hardened veterans of the Apocalypse who were qualified to undergo the surgery did not die meaninglessly during the genetic modification process.
Bayer was flushed with excitement as he spoke, but the others, hearing this and watching the 101s continue to stream through the door, struggled to digest the implications of his words.
Van Roth and the other veteran retainers were alright; they were simply stunned by the 101s before them.
On the other hand, Malakin was utterly shocked, his face drained of all color.
First of all, the group that had saved him—even with an Inquisitor among them—was actually bold enough to dare to breed Astartes using genes other than those of a Primarch?!
No! This was the ultimate act of heresy under Imperial law—was the Inquisitor not going to say a word?!
Thinking this, Malakin even took a hard look at Van Roth, confirming that the other was just like everyone else, simply stunned by the power of the 101s. Gritting his teeth, he withdrew his gaze, resolving to run at the first opportunity and rush to Sanctuary Star to report this strange force—a motley crew mixed with Ancient Legions, pirates, and even the Empire—while simultaneously acting just like everyone else, earnestly scrutinizing these newborn Astartes.
Beyond wanting to learn more so he could relay valuable intelligence to Sanctuary Star, it was also because Van Roth and the others were shocked, and he, Malakin, was shocked too!
Looking at these 101s, Malakin's eyes were filled with endless bewilderment: Tell me, what the hell does 'every man a Librarian' even mean?!
And what the hell does 'comprehensive doubling' mean?
It couldn't possibly be literal, could it? That all attributes are doubled across the board?
Fine, even if those first two points were barely within the realm of 'reasonableness'—after all, the Empire was never short of badasses.
But are you serious about the source of your 'recruits'?
Why did the terms you used feel so foreign to me? Apocalypse? Battle-hardened? Veterans?
Does this mean there are Imperial Guardsmen who survived the Apocalypse? And not just one, but several?!
Malakin looked seriously at Bayer, then looked seriously at the people around him. Finding that they were simply lost in a daze over the combat power and didn't think there was anything wrong with what Bayer had said, he had to lower his head again, dazed and wide-eyed, just like the rest of them.
Because even for the previous news, Malakin could always force himself to find an explanation or other isolated cases on a galactic scale, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized the cases he found were just 'isolated cases'!
You know what an isolated case is? It means there are only one or two of them.
But what did that last sentence of Bayer's mean? What the hell does 'mass-produced' even mean?!!!
Do you mean to say that this Legion—where everyone is a Librarian, with comprehensive doubling, born from battle-hardened veterans of the Apocalypse, and where the rank-and-file soldiers start out as Terminators—can actually be mass-produced?!!!
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It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"